Latch.



No. 800,776. PATENTED' OCT. 3, 1905. J. F. WBATHERS & E. L. HILL.

LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 28, 1904.

\Nltknesse {I Inventors Max M Hctomegs UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN F. WVEATHERS AND ERNEST L. HILL, OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA.

LATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1905.

Application filed May 28, 1904. Serial No. 210,622.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN F. WnA'rHnRs and ERNEST L. HILL, citizens of the United States, residing at Columbus, in the county of Muscogee and State of Georgia, have invented a new and useful Latch, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to latches designed especially for detachably connecting the parts of collapsible show-cases or other furniture, but which may of course be employed in other connections, and has for its objects to produce a comparatively simple inexpensive device of this character in which the bars or elements to which the latch is applied will be maintained in secure assemblage and may be readily released for disconnection when desired and one in which the latch will compensate for contraction, expansion, or wear of the connected elements, thereby obviating looseness and rattling of the parts.

To these ends the invention comprises the novel features of construction and combination of parts more fully hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1is a view in perspective of a latch constructed in accordance with our invention applied in the operative position to the joint between the sections or members of a receptacle, such as a show-case or box-case. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the latch. showing the catch member in section. Fig. 3 is adetail view in perspective of the latch and catch members detached and separated.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the show-case to which the device is shown applied comprises a plurality of members 1, having marginal frames, the bar or element2 of one of which is provided with a suitable longitudinallyextending recess or rabbet 3 for the reception of the meeting edges of the frame bars or elementse of the adjacent panel, the rails or elements 2 and 4 being detachably connected at suitable intervals by means of the improved latches constituting the subject of the present invention.

The improved latch comprises a locking member and a keeper. Said locking member consists of a fiat elongated lever 5, which may be conveniently struck from sheet metal and the bodyof which forms an operating-handle. Said lever is provided near its fulcrum, which is at its upper extremity, with a laterally-extending curved finger 6, which constitutes an engagingmember and the inner edge of which is slightly eccentric to the fulcrum of the lever. The keeper 7 which constitutes the secondary member of the latch, is provided with a pair of spaced openings 8 9, of which the primary opening 8 initially receives the engaging finger 6 when the parts are in locked position for engagement with the fixed part or web 10, formed upon the keeper between the openings. The keeper 7 is preferably in the form of a flat metal plate mortised into the rail or element 4 and secured thereto by screws or other fastening devices 11, the rail being suitably cored out or recessed beneath the plate in line with the openings 8 9 for the reception and to permit free play of the finger 6 in its movement to engagement or non-engagement with the part 10. The locking member or lever 5 is secured, by means of a rivet or other appropriate pivoting-axle 12, to a supporting member or plate 13, which is in turn secured by screws or other fastening devices l t to the rail or element 2 at a suitable point to coincide with the keeper 7 when the rails are brought into assemblage, there being provided on the supporting-plate 13 an outturned lip or portion 15, designed when the parts are assembled to bear upon the adjacent face of the keeper and seat over the secondary opening 9. It is to be particularly noted that the active engaging edge of the finger 6 is provided with an inwardly-curved cam-face 16, which bears directly upon the inner adjacent face of the web 10, and that when the parts are in looking engagement, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the terminal of the finger 6 projects into the secondary opening9 sufficiently forthe part 10 of the keeper to be tightly grasped by I the finger 6 and seats snugly within the curved edge 16 of the latter, whereby the element 4 will be drawn tightly toward and against the element 2, while at the same time the locking member and its keeper will be interlocked with sufficient security to obviate longitudinal movement of either of the elements relative to the other.

In practice when the parts of the case are to be assembled they are placed in appropriate positions one upon the other and the members or levers 5 turned to cause engagement of the fingers with the keepers, as heretofore explained, a releasal of the parts of the case for this connection being of course eflected by turning the locking members to non-engaging position. It. may be observed that in the event of the material of the elements contracting or expanding or becoming worn looseness and rattling which would result from said causes are compensated for by the locking member 5, which has a certain amount of play for the purpose.

It will be observed that the lever 5, which is preferably struck from sheet metal and which is perfectly flat, occupies but very little space and is therefore not unsightly, it is extended or elongated to form a handle whereby it may be manipulated, and it requires no casing of" any kind, the plate to which it is pivoted being simply secured by two ordinary wood-screws upon the stile ormember 2, while the keeper 7 is in like manner secured upon the stile &. The rabbct or recess 3 in the stile 2 may be omitted, inasmuch as the lip or lug 15 forms a stationary portion or seat which limits the movement of the stile 4. carrying the keeper 7 in the direction of the stile with which the latch lever is connected. hen the lever is in engaging position, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, its extended end, which constitutes the handle, also forms a weight, whereby accidental disengagement of the parts will be prevented.

From the foregoing it is apparent that a simple inexpensive device is produced ad mirably adapted for the attainment of the ends in View, it being understood that minor changes in the details of construction herein set forth may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is- In a device of the class described, a baseplate, a lever pivoted upon said base-plate and having an elongated body extended to form a weighty operating-handle, said lever being pivoted near its upper extremity and provided with a laterally-extending curved linger, constituting a cam member, disposed near the fulcrum between the extremities of the lever; said base-plate being provided with an upturned stop-lug adjacent to the fulcrum of the lever and said base-plate being seen red to one of two members to be connected; in combination with a keeper secured to the other of the two members to be connected and having a pair of spaced openings separated by a web adapted to be engaged by the cam member of the lever.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto affixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN F. WEATHERS. ERNES" L. HILL. \Vitnesses:

C. L. JOHNSON, K. E. SMYTHE. 

